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People selling Disney pins on Ebay.

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People selling Disney pins on Ebay.
gary-n-paula

gary-n-paula

Obsessed with pins
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Hi Everyone,

I am so curious about these individuals that sell Disney Pins on Ebay. I'm not talking about those that sell indivual pins as much as I am those that sell in lots.

What I wonder about is the fact that they sell multiple lots of 25, 50, and even 100 pins at a time.

They seem reputable enough with over 10,000 positive feedbacks and no negatives what so ever that I could see.

So how is it possible for these sellers to come up with so many pins? I mean wouldn't someone have posted a negative feedback by now if the pins were fakes?

What gives?

Thanks,
Gary
 
This is a very good question.

I, too, would love to know the answer(s).

It could be that people are unaware of the pins and that they do not mind as they will trade them for better ones in the park?
 
I have an idea! Twice I have received scrappers by buying lots. This was before I was educated on Disney pins. In fact, it was the very first two lots I bought. Even though I didn't know much, I knew by looking at them that one lot had to be counterfeit--miscolored, questionable quality. The other lot was definitely authentic but was what I would consider scrappers--scratches, missing dangles, etc. On both occasions, I was given a full refund. I did not get a chance to leave feedback-I guess they filed thru Ebay? I don't know..but I did not get an option to leave feedback once we "settled" thru ebay messages. I could have left feedback right away, I know I had the option immediately but wanted to try to get my money back first...

Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
 
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Also, I do think several people are happy with the pins they receive. Have no idea they are scrappers or counterfeit.
 
They were to me...scratches all over, parts of the pin missing, most without mickey backs, one written on with marker..

I understand that pins traded in the parks sometimes aren't in the best condition.
But these were REALLY bad.
 
If they're selling through tons of lots of 100 pins each month at under two bucks a pin, they're either dealing in scrappers or counterfeits (possibly both). They don't receive negative feedback largely because the people buying the pins are either uneducated and naive, or know what they're buying and don't care. If you look at some of the sellers on eBay, a fair number of the sellers who deal in big, authentic pins tend to fund their hobby and their sales of legitimate pins through their illegitimate bulk lots.

-JD
 
gary-n-paula said:
But if they are all fakes I wouldn't want to be the one passing them on at the parks.
Click to expand...

Well thank you for being one of the good ppl. The anwser to your ??? has a few parts. As other ppl have said. Most ppl that get the lots are new and do not know better. Or sad to say the others know what they are doing and would not give neg cuz they want to use the fakes as traders. It has even been said that some ppl that talk bad about lots are known to buy the lots and trade at the park. So the 2 face talk only adds to the over all trouble. In the end. it is up to us (pin traders) to not buy these pins and to tell your friends or other ppl to not get them also. There is always going to be dirty traders and sharks... but the real disney fans will do the right thing and not look for the easy rd out.

ps. i got 2 lots when i was new. and i never traded them. i trash fake pins. do not add to the hobby.
 
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It is also my understanding that some of the ebay sellers that buy scrappers/counterfeits/whatever, to sell, then trade them in the park for real pins and that is what they sell on ebay. This way they can avoid negative feedback, refunds and ebay cases opened against them. Or perhaps sell a mix of scrappers and real pins. They're a crafty lot.
 
Ebay does allow you to file negative review after you settle the dispute. I think it's under the "More" button. I can personally say that when I first started trading pins there were people at the park that traded me fake pins for my real pins. They would warn me about fake pins and then trade me their fake pin. I have to say there are some pin traders that I see often at the park that are truly great people and I wouldn't hesitate to trade with.
 
I often see these sales on Ebay and shudder knowing what those types of people are behind these sale threads, deceitful people whose goal is to make money off unauthorized pins, pretty much the sale version of a pin Shark. There are two types of buyers that those sales are "prey" at: A, beginner traders who don't know the difference between unauthorized pins, and B, experienced traders who do but don't care. Buying these pins as "traders," the buyer doesn't initially care if there's something seemingly wrong, the pins are inexpensive and they can trade the ones they don't like for good pins. The buyers are happy, the shark sellers are happy, its a win-win, right?
 
Everything said above is completely true. I just want to add to this.

Many of the traders that need lots of pins just to trade with cast members at the parks, are not looking for quality pins at all. They are the ones buying the scrappers and counterfeits, and do not care. Most of them know exactly what they are doing, and they can live with this, only because they know they will more than likely end up with mostly scrappers and counterfeits from the CMs at the parks. This is how they justify it, which means they will leave positive feedback, because they got exactly what they wanted.

You've got traders on this forum right now who have posted under the sale/wanted post, stating they want a pin and do not care if it is a scrapper. What do you do when you see this? I am sure someone will reply and give this person a scrapper, so the circulation of scrappers continues even though everyone involved knows it is a scrapper.

When I first started trading, I did not even know you could buy pin lots on ebay until someone told me that. I figured it sounded like a good idea, but these pin lots I found were about $2.50 a pin. So they were probably real. Later on, as I started to learn more and became aware of the fake pin situation, I stopped buying these lots and just waited for the Disney Stores or outlets to have pins for $1.99 or even $1.00 a pin once in a while. I would then buy as many as I could to trade at the parks, and I felt so good knowing there was no question as to the authenticity of my pins. And that is the only reward, because what I got back was all fakes.

I took all of the fake pins and met with a manager at the parks to show them. They told me that their employees are not trained to examine the pins, so there was not much they could do about it. I am now down to my last group of real pins, and do not feel like even trading with CMs anymore.

The ebay sellers all get their pins from China, knowing the pins are fakes, and as long as traders keep buying them, this mess will continue until the purity of pin trading is completely gone. Sorry about the long thing here, but just needed to vent some.
 
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I think everyone can say when they first started pin trading the bought at one pin lot on ebay then to find out they were scrappers. I did the same thing when I first started.

I think there shoudl be something somewhere that advertises that if your new dont buy trader lots as it is an easy mistake when new people start to collect.

But I agree that some people do know what they are doing, saw it in paris and at mousemeets in the UK as someone came up to me and said would I trade and they emptied a bad of pins in little baggies in front of me and I was like *you serious* I traded as my pin was nothing special anyway and I traded for the only pin that wasnt in a bag and turned out to be a real pin..all the rest I stayed clear of.
 
I have recently come across a big, huge lot. Unfortunately, I have not seen the lot before auction has ended. These pins look mostly legit and they went for peanuts.

Alice and Chesire collectors will cry their eyes out when they see the lot that was sold :(

No, I am not trying to start a flame-o-thread, but i really am speechless.

Some poor seller got scammed on Ebay by another "preferred seller". It was like taking candy from a baby, so sad.

PM me for details.
 
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Hi Merryweather,
How do you know this huge lot of pins were legit? It takes a high power magnifying glass for me to differentiate the counterfeit pins from the legit ones. And you can do this just from a picture?

Just because it does not say scrapper or counterfeit on pinpics about a particular pin does not mean there isn't one.

And there are some good sellers out there selling pin lots here and there, but not too many, so anything is possible, but so very hard to tell by just looking at a picture of the pins.
 
Destiny,

do DA LE100 and LE 250 pins sound legit to you ? Check the auction info I have sent you via pm.

I feel really bad for the seller of those pins.
 
Hi Merryweather,

I answered your PM and I understand your frustration with this, but this was not a regular auction, but rather, a private one just for the particular person that bought these pins. Apparently, the seller and the buyer agreed on the price of the lot before time, so no one scammed anyone.

There are not a lot of LE 250 and LE 100 pins in this lot, and keep in mind that not all Disney pins sold for the price on pinpics. Many Disney Auction pins sold at outlets for a lot less than they sold in their original auctions, so we really do not know what this seller paid for the pins.

The fact that some are DA LE 250 or DA Le 100 does not mean they are not counterfeits. So many are these days, and this is unfortunate. But it did look like this was someone's private collection that was sold, and assuming that, the pins were probably all legit as you say.

Still, the thread we are all responding to is more about where the seller that sell so many lots get their pins from. We are referring to those buying counterfeit pins and scrappers from China mostly, because that is the majority of the lots selling.
 
Merryweather said:
Destiny,

do DA LE100 and LE 250 pins sound legit to you ? Check the auction info I have sent you via pm.

I feel really bad for the seller of those pins.
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm crying :( the only thing that makes it a little easier is the fact that I couldn't afford the lot at the moment.

On a side note I have only ever purchased one pin lot on eBay and it is possible to luck out - I got a DA 100 jumbo in a lot with 4 other pins for $54 and free shipping. When I first started out trading I personally didn't buy any pins off eBay, but my mom did for me and my sisters to trade with the CMs. It wasn't until I got home from our trip this past December that I found this site and found out we'd been scammed
 
You have to sympathize with the beginners, ultimately this is a ten year+ hobby and as such most early will think to look at Ebay to get a good deal on traders. It's like the cheap "as is" newer electronics, might be working but most are probably not but always selling for cheap; comparable to finding lots of legits/scrappers. I confess to buying one lot of 20 when I first started out trading, the bag was a mix of seemingly good pins and several defective pins, broken off enamel pieces, scratches, missing dangles, etc.. I didn't think nothing of it then since the Disney outlets at that time offered pins averaging 99 cents a piece; It's not till I get home away from the parks and join a forum that I find that I now have the initial # of 20 + more worth in scrappers/counterfeits I traded with other CMs. You definitely reap what you sew.

Why are Ebay threads rampant with Scrappers/Counterfeits. There are primary sellers getting pins direct from unauthorized factories, to the point that these pins are being released before the intial market date. Pin shark sellers have accumulated so many pins from trading/buying that they sell their known bad pins in bulk to get rid of them while they sell good pins for huge profits. I don't remember where I read this but its also speculated that insider sources buy lots direct from Disney, legit or scrapper I don't know, as they get new pin releases every year and have to remove the older batches somehow.
 
coblj003 said:
\I confess to buying one lot of 20 when I first started out trading, the bag was a mix of seemingly good pins and several defective pins, broken off enamel pieces, scratches, missing dangles, etc.. I didn't think nothing of it then since the Disney outlets at that time offered pins averaging 99 cents a piece; It's not till I get home away from the parks and join a forum that I find that I now have the initial # of 20 + more worth in scrappers/counterfeits I traded with other CMs. You definitely reap what you sew.
.
Click to expand...

Sadly, me too. When I first started trading during our second WDW trip, I purchased traders on Ebay that were probably scrappers, then I came home with more scrappers from trades. It is definitely not desired, but it happens.

I did not buy my pins in lots though, mine were more like $1.50 build-your-own-lot kinda pins, even then, they were bad.
 
You know what is funny about all this? In the past, before it was obvious that most pin lots were scrappers or counterfeits, we would all tell every new trader we met how to economize on trading with the CM's at the park, and suggested they buy pin lots. We thought we were helping and doing them a favor in not letting them trade $3-6 pins with the cast members. Now look at what we've done! I remember experienced traders telling me I should not give the CM's $3 pins, and referring me to people that sold their pins in lots. Some of these people were just great and had legit pins, while others may have sold me scrappers, but at the time, I had no idea.

Once I learned about this nightmare, I even bought 50 of the same style in order to avoid scrappers. Some of you may remember doing this. The problem with that is that too many cast members already had these on their lanyards, so that did not work out so well for me that trip. lol We have all tried ways to get around this, stop it, and it has just gotten worse.

Like I said, I have one batch of Disney bought pins for my next trip to WDW and am super afraid to trade them, because I will most likely end up with scrappers.
 
You have to be very careful. Beginners, unfortunately, do not know what to look for. If it seems too good to be true, IT IS!! It's not just scrappers and fakes...it's Sedesmas and Propins being advertised as "authentic" Disney pins. Sedesma pins were supposedly official Disney pins. However, the quality of them is not good most traders will not accept them. As for Propins, they are German imitations. Some people like them. I do not and will not accept them.

A seller might have 100% feedback but that does NOT mean they can be trusted. If you bid on or buy a lot of pins, BEFORE you do so, ask if the seller will take returns. Tell them you will carefully inspect the pins upon receipt and that if they turn out to be fake, that you will file a grievance with eBay. NEVER bid when no returns are accepted and refunds are offered. I have done that with no intention of bidding and have seen several auctions closed early just by my inquiry.

I'm no fool. I know what fakes and scrappers look like. I've been trading for a long time and when I first started, I got taken a few times. No longer. I do sell on eBay myself occasionally. I guarantee the authenticity of my pins, accept returns and offer refunds. No one has ever returned a pin or asked for a refund. I describe them exactly and I always say that the pins have been traded and that they may show signs of such. Honesty is the key to a good reputation.

Laura
 
maria......always ask to see the pin b4 you trade. as long as you are nice. the CM will always let you hold the pin. If its fake you can tell them that is fake or just say no thank you. i sumtimes tell them but sumtimes you can tell they dont care. so its your call at that point. but you do not have to take the bad pin.
 
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